Mateo wants a cupcake

3-year-old Mateo rocketed to Internet fame after his mother, Linda Beltran, uploaded a YouTube video of him begging her for a cupcake for dinner.

“Linda, honey, just listen to me,” says Mateo to his mother. Beltran says her son calls her Linda when he’s “very serious,” and he wants to make sure she’s listening to him.

After viewing the video last week, Ellen Degeneres made a plea for Linda to bring Mateo on her show. Beltran and a more subdued Mateo appeared on the show yesterday.

After failing to get the obviously overwhelmed 3-year-old to behave like the witty, spontaneous kid she saw in the video, Ellen finally gives up.

“Since you flew all the way here to see me, we’re going to give you some cupcakes,” says Ellen.

The is a sad commentary on how society (and single mothers) encourages and rewards children for their bad behavior.

I wonder if Ellen will be there in 15 years to bond Mateo out of jail?

YouTube video

Original Video

YouTube video